Sex abuse trials 'just tip of iceberg', says Pitcairn prosecutor

11.45am

The sex abuse trials in which six Pitcairn Island men were found guilty of rape and indecent assault were just the "tip of the iceberg", lead prosecutor Simon Moore said today.

Among those convicted yesterday was the mayor of Pitcairn Island, Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendant of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian. He was cleared of four indecent assaults and one rape but convicted of five other rapes.

The verdicts were read by judges sent from New Zealand for the trials, which began September 30 in a makeshift court in the island's community hall.

Sentences were expected to be announced later this week, British authorities said.

Auckland lawyer Mr Moore said the court cases accounted for about one third of the offences the police learned of when they investigated the claims of rape and indecent assault of underage women by island men.

Up to 30 women said they had been sexually abused. Some of the accused were dead while some of the women declined to go to court.

Mr Moore said there were more charges to be laid involving people in Australia and New Zealand, but he declined to reveal any details.

"I can't go into any details because there are extensive name suppression orders in place," he told National Radio.

Some victims had indicated an interest to return to Pitcairn. If they were satisfied justice had been done, and the island was a safe place, they may return to Pitcairn to raise their families.

"It remains to be seen if that, in fact, happens," Mr Moore said.

The trials exposed a culture of sexual abuse on their small Pacific island, home to descendants of the 18th-century mutineers from the British ship HMS Bounty.

Islanders have expressed concern that if the men are imprisoned, there would be no one to crew a long boat that serves as the island's lifeline -- transporting freight and passengers to and from passing ships that cannot dock along the rocky shore.

In all, seven men faced more than 50 sex abuse charges, some dating back 40 years. One man was acquitted and between them, the others were found guilty of 35 of the charges, Bryan Nicolson of the British High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand said.

Prosecutors, building their case on the testimony of eight women, painted a picture of a male-dominated society in which underage sex was commonplace.

But some of the island's women came out in defence of the men, saying that while underage sex did happen, it was consensual and important to the island's survival. Pitcairn has a permanent population of just 47.

Steve Christian's son, Randy Christian, was convicted of four rapes and five indecent assaults but cleared of one rape and two indecent assaults.

Len Brown, 78, was convicted of two rapes. His son, Dave Brown, was convicted of nine indecent assaults and cleared of four indecent assaults and two charges of gross indecency.

During one of the trials, prosecutor Christine Gordon said Dave Brown assaulted one girl in the island's Seventh Day Adventist church and another during a fishing trip along the island's rugged coast.

The abuse went on for decades, prosecutors said.

Dennis Christian, 49, the postmaster and another descendant of Fletcher Christian, was convicted of one indecent assault and two sexual assaults he pleaded guilty to at trial.

Terry Young was convicted of one rape and six indecent assaults, which included a girl aged 7, but he was cleared of one indecent assault.

None of the victims of abuse still live on the island; they testified by video link from Auckland.

The convicted men could be sentenced to prison time in the island's newly built cell block. But they will continue to be free pending the outcome of an appeal by defence lawyers against Britain's jurisdiction over the remote island. That case is expected to be heard next year in New Zealand.

Professor John Connell, an expert on the South Pacific from the University of Sydney, said even if the men were incarcerated they likely would be released temporarily when they were needed to crew the longboat.

If they were imprisoned and not let out even temporarily, "then it would be a punishment for the whole community," he said.

- NZPA